Speculation

Oftentimes when the natural gas futures contract moves in adirection that fundamentals do not necessarily dictate, commercialtraders are left shaking their heads and cursing those speculators”who know nothing about how the physical market works.” But as thepanelists at yesterday’s GasMart Power’98 session titled StirringUp the Natural Gas Futures Market with Locals & Funds stressed,speculative funds are here to stay, so perhaps commercials would bewell served to learn how they think.